Tag Archives: Cheney

Uncle Howard Cheney Was a Doughboy

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Joseph Howard Cheney
Joseph Howard Cheney in his World War I Uniform

I have always thought this a great photo. It is only after doing some research into the military service of Howard Cheney, that I can appreciate the proud, though somewhat terrified look as he stands at attention in his uniform.

Joseph Howard Cheney

Joseph Howard Cheney, was my grandmother’s brother, making him my Great Uncle. I have come to see him as Great in another way. He was born in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on June 20, 1891, the fifth child and fourth son of Selar Cheney and Mary Alice Wilson. His childhood in Jackson Hole was probably adventurous, but could it possibly have prepared him for what was to come?

Howard, as he was called, was a young man as World War I raged across the ocean. The United States was slow to join her allies in this War, waiting and watching until officially declaring War on April 6, 1917. Howard likely read available newspapers accounts and maybe thought about this War as he worked on his ranch.

The first U.S. Draft began in June 1917 and Howard was one of the first to register on June 5, 1917. He was 25 years old. On his registration card he indicated that he had no disability or exception to service.

Private Joseph Howard Cheney

Howard enlisted on May 24, 1918. He was sent to Camp Lewis in American Lake, Washington for training. Having been to this very place earlier this year, I can picture that. Camp Lewis has now morphed into Joint Base Lewis McChord, where my son-in-law was stationed.

Howard served as a Private in Battery A 145th Field Artillery 40 Division. On August 5, 1918, he sailed on the ship Scotian from New York City to France. Unfortunately, there are few available details about his service other than that he served in France until the end of the War. Just knowing about the horrors of this war and the devastation caused to France, we can assume that it was a frightening and horrible experience. Howard was not wounded, though one must wonder if he carried home unseen wounds.

The Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, ending this Great War. Howard left Bordeaux, France on December 23rd and arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey on January 5, 1919. He was discharged January 24, 1919 at Logan, Utah.

Article in Jackson’s Hole Courier
30 January 1919

Return to the Ranch in Jackson Hole

Howard returned to Jackson Hole January 26, 1919 and resumed ranching. He married Pearl Estella Mangum November 7, 1923. They had five children and raised four to adulthood. Howard farmed and fed his family through the Great Depression.

Howard with his children

With the entry of the United States into another World War, Howard again dutifully registered for the Draft. He was then 50 years old.

Howard died on the eve of Independence Day, July 3, 1949 in Brigham City, Utah at the relatively young age of 58.

Joseph Howard Cheney
Howard and Pearl in Brigham City

After his death, Howard’s wife Pearl applied for a Military Headstone for his grave. She was living in Brigham City, Utah at the time of the application, July 3, 1951. She had the stone marker shipped to her son-in-law Keith Shinkle of Victor, Idaho to the Wilson, Wyoming Post Office, which was on the other side of Teton Pass. This granite marker was placed on Howard’s grave in the South Park Cemetery, in Jackson, Wyoming.

Joseph Howard Cheney
Joseph H Cheney Headstone
South Park Cemetery, Jackson, Wyoming

Stella May Cheney Robinson Eggleston

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Stella May Cheney Robinson Eggleston

Stella’s Life in Her Own Words

I, Stella May Cheney, was born 13 Nov. 1905 at Wilson, Teton Co., Wyoming. (This was Uinta Co., then Lincoln and now Teton County.)

I was born in a log cabin on Fish Creek, near Uncle “Nick” (E. N.) Wilson’s home. I knew him and his son, George, was my childhood play mate.

My father was Selar Sylvester Cheney, a son of Selar Cheney who was a son of Elam, whose Father, Aaron Cheney, joined the L.D.S. [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] Church in New York in 1831.

My mother was Edith Vivian Nethercott; she was born 28 April 1885 in Corning, Tehema Co., California. Her father was Alfred Nethercott, born 20 March 1856 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Alfred Nethercott’s father, Alfred Alexander Nethercott, his mother Charlotte Pearce and his grandparents, James Nethercott and Rachel James, were from England. They lived in Utah and Calif., and later Alfred Alexander, his wife, Charlotte and Alfred Nethercott, his wife, Ida Ann Thompson and children went to Wyoming about 1900.

My mother’s mother was Ida Ann Thompson – born at Trenton, Grundy Co., Missouri. The family went to California when my grandmother was a child. John Alexander Campbell Thompson and his wife, Amanda Caroline Williams – parents of Ida Ann Thompson.

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Cemetery Tour – South Park Cemetery, Jackson, Wyoming

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A virtual Cemetery Tour of the South Park Cemetery, the resting place of many of our Wilson and Cheney ancestors.

My Introduction to this Cemetery

My first visit to the South Park Cemetery in Jackson, Wyoming was in August 2002. Our family had enjoyed vacationing in Jackson Hole for years before I learned enough of our family history to search out graves of our ancestors. For this particular trip, my father joined us. Because he is an early riser and my husband and children are not, nor were they interested in being drug through a cemetery at any hour, Dad and I went alone early one morning.

South Park Cemetery, Jackson, Wyoming

The cemetery sits on a hill, south of the town of Jackson, in the area known as South Park where Sylvester Wilson settled in 1889. There are spectacular views from this point. The cemetery itself is not large and most of it was rather overgrown. A fence enclosed many of the Wilson family graves.

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Talitha Cuma Cheney Eggleston

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My grandmother, Talitha Cuma Cheney Eggleston died at a young age. At least from my present perspective it seems a very young age. I never had the privilege of knowing her. When I was compiling histories for the Cheney Wilson Family History Book, I realized that she was the only member of that family no one had written about. So I set out, as one who had not known her personally, to write a history of her life. This is taken largely from that account, with some additional photographs.

Early Life in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Talitha Cuma Cheney was born May 3, 1893 in South Park, Wyoming. She grew up as on only daughter, with several brothers, all but one older than her. Her parents, Selar Cheney and Mary Alice Wilson, had another daughter Mary Ellen, but she had died as a child in Wilsonville, long before Cuma was born.

family of Selar and Mary Alice Wilson Cheney

Talitha Cuma is sitting on her father Selar’s lap. To the right of her is her grandmother Talitha Cuma Garlic Avery, whom she was named after. Other family members are Howard, David, Mother Mary Alice holding Fleming, and Selar Sylvester and Ralph standing in the back.

Talitha Cuma was named after her grandmother, Talitha Cumi Garlick Avery Cheney, though she went by the name “Cuma”. In some places it was written Cumi or Cumy, though her daughter Alice said she preferred Cuma to Cumy.

Fleming, Talitha Cuma and Howard Cheney

Cuma with her brothers Fleming and Howard

At the time Cuma was born, the South Park community consisted mostly of her extended family, so her childhood would have been spent with her brothers and several cousins.

Education was very important to this family. The first school was organized in Jackson Hole in 1896. Cuma was too young to attend when the school first started, but was privileged to have this available from the time she was ready to start school. A 1899 souvenir card of School District No. 37 in Jackson lists 16 pupils with Cumy Cheney listed last, as she was probably the youngest.

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2001 An Eggleston Genealogy Odyssey – Part 2 to Nauvoo, Illinois

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On to Nauvoo, Illinois

The 2001 Eggleston Genealogy Odyssey continued after our visit to Winter Quarters and Council Bluffs, Iowa. After spending the night at a campground called “Sleepy Hollow”, Dad and I started early Monday August 5, and drove a few hours south from Iowa City. We crossed the Mississippi River on a Bridge by Fort Madison and drove into Nauvoo, Illinois from the east. What we saw was a small town on the bluff with some shops and houses and then right in front of us was the Nauvoo Temple under construction.

Nauvoo LDS Temple in 2001

Nauvoo Temple under construction in 2001

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Land Office

One of our first stops was the land office where we looked up where our ancestors had lived. We spent more time there than I expected and got quite a lot of information.

Historic Nauvoo Map

The Eggleston home on Block 62 and the Garlick home on Block 34. The Temple Block is the larger dark square in the Wells area

The Garlick home would have been a few blocks further beyond the trees in the photo below where it goes down into a gully. The Cheney family lived outside of town.

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The First Christmas in Jackson Hole

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The First Christmas in Jackson Hole was celebrated with elk steaks, doughnuts fried in bear grease, music and dancing.

The Wilson & Cheney Families

Sylvester Wilson had settled in Emery County, Utah in 1877 at a place that became known as Wilsonville. After almost 12 years in this drought stricken area, Sylvester Wilson decided to move and start again somewhere else.

Sylvester Wilson

Sylvester Wilson

Mary Wood Wilson

Mary Wood Wilson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sylvester and his family left Wilsonville at the end of May 1889. The group included Sylvester and his wife Mary, 9 unmarried children (the youngest being three) and two married children and their families. Mary Alice had married Selar Cheney August 10, 1879. They had four children, but one died before they left. Ervin had married Mary Jane Davis June 26, 1888 and she was expecting their first child as they left. Their son James was born September 12 in St. Anthony, Idaho.

The family left Wilsonville with 5 sturdy wagons and about 80 head of cattle. They also had at least 20 race horses, which Sylvester had taken as partial payment on their Wilsonville property. The trip to St. Anthony, Idaho was over 400 miles. They averaged about 10 miles per day, trailing their livestock.

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Doc’s Memories of Dad and Mom

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Dad was born in Eden, but because his Father had three wives, to avoid problems, he moved to Grover in Star Valley Wyoming where Dad was raised. Besides farming Dad got several other jobs. One was taking the mail from Idaho over Teton Pass into Jackson. He also worked on the Hoback road into Jackson. There were several people Homesteading and creating a road that became Mormon Row. It was over a ridge by Moose Junction. In 1896 the Government granted homesteads on that road. I have Dad’s Homestead deed signed by President Wilson. Dad’s Uncle Jacob Johnson Homesteaded next door to him. His uncle’s twin brother Ephraim built a saw mill in Wilson Wyoming and provided lumber for them to build. Dad started to build before he got the Homestead papers. He built a barn and started a house. Mother’s family had settled in South Park in Jackson Hole and Dad and Mother got together there. They went either by buggy or horse back to get married in the Salt Lake Temple. That was quite a trip.

Wedding

Wedding Photo of Joseph and Cuma Eggleston

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